Calhoun explains his technical

An emotional Jim Calhoun conducted a 9-minute postgame press conference tonight, but was only asked one question. He spent the rest of his time complimenting the Cincinnati team, and specifically guard Deonta Vaughn ("hopefully he gets lost going to Storrs. He's that good") and coach Mick Cronin ("the Big East Coach of the Year at this point") and, of course, his own team in its terrific, come-from-behind, 84-83 win.

He never addressed the costly technical foul he was hit with at the 7:01 mark (Vaughn's two freebies gave Cincy an 8-point lead at the time), but I caught up with Calhoun after his presser and asked him about it.

Calhoun said he simply yelled "Get in the game!" at referee Ed Corbett.

"He said, 'I gave it to (Cronin), I've got to give it to you," Calhoun explained. "Then, he came over later and apologized."

Indeed, late the first half, Cronin was hit with a "T" by ref Ed Hightower after arguing a foul. Cronin yelled several expletives at Hightower after the technical, but the ref apparently didn't hear them.

Craig Austrie, who wasn't in the game at the time, popped off the bench and hit both free throws. That's illegal – but only illegal, apparently, if the refs notice.

UConn had a whopping 16 free throw attempts in the first half – hitting 15 of them – while the Bearcats didn't get to the line a single time over the first 20 minutes. The Huskies wound up going 32-for-37 from the stripe for the game; Cincy went 13-for-20.

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About Me

In August 2007 I was named the New Haven Register's men's basketball beat writer. Prior to that, I covered the Red Sox as the Journal Register Co.'s traveling beat writer for three seasons. Yes, 2004 was my first year on the Red Sox beat.
Previous to that, I covered the Providence College Friars and Pawtucket Red Sox for JRC's Rhode Island and Mass. papers. I am a Rhode Island native, growing up in Barrington.